The best ways to stay motivated, from setting daily goals to talking yourself into a positive frame of mind – Hong Kong experts’ tips
Whatever you want to achieve, motivation plays a critical role in determining your success or failure. Find out what’s been keeping you stuck and pick up a few tips from experts to increase your drive
Many of us have experienced a lack of motivation at some point or another. We might set out to perform a task, but midway through or before we even start, we lose our enthusiasm to see it through, and so the task doesn’t get done or gets shelved for another day.
Amanda Chia knows this feeling all too well. The 42-year-old graphic designer, who is self-employed, says that it’s hard staying motivated during office hours, especially on days when she has a lot on her plate.
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“Running a solo business out of a small office at home, I tend to get distracted, and often during the busiest periods,” she says. “I’ll look at all the work I have to do and feel overwhelmed, or I’ll start doing it but then get distracted by emails or social media. I’m not sure why I feel unmotivated at times; I don’t know how much of it has to do with the fact that I work at home. But it does affect my productivity.”
Imagine how much more we would accomplish if only we felt more driven. But knowing how to drum up motivation is just one piece of the puzzle.
According to experts, motivation is the desire to do things coupled with the feeling that you have a reason to achieve your goals. If you know your purpose for performing a task, the motivation tends to come more easily.
“‘Motivation’ stems from ‘motive’, which is our ‘reason to move’,” says Angela Spaxman, a Hong Kong-based career and executive coach. “Our motivation is the sum of our reasons, conscious or unconscious, for doing anything.”